If you are thinking about traveling with your family like we are, either far away or for a long period of time - don't forget to budget for medical and dental care taking place prior to your departure. Yes, September 2010 will be remembered as a heck of an expensive one. All very good investments of course, dental and medical care for the four of us. Only today's visit, the vaccinations cost us $750 - and that's not all of it. The other medication will be purchased in Mexico for much cheaper that what it costs here. I also need a small dental surgery, small procedure but big invoice... Ho-le-cow how I miss my medical and dental family coverage... but of course if I was still a corporate work horse we would never be able to do this beautiful crazy trip.
We are still purging the house, and put one purging day per week on our calendar until our departure - it works very well! Today Tim got rid of more clothes than what he has left in his closet... and I am delighted. It feels great!
Some hickups with Le Petit Atelier, one of the teachers I hired will not be able to work for me this fall - no work permit... (she is from France). The other two teachers are fully booked which is very good, but because of the one missing teacher I am in the unfortunate position to ask some clients to wait until March. They are small clients, but they are just as important in my view because it means that these kids will not get music classes while I'm away.
Next step is Passeport renewal for all of us, we will probably get our lovely 'no-smile' pictures taken this weekend.
And now I can almost hear the clock ticking...
Somewhere between Izamal and Sudzal, Yucatan.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
More teaching?
I just heard back from the Telchac Education coordinator - she is supporting my teaching project and will be meeting with the principal of the Telchac school this coming Wednesday. I am crossing my fingers and my toes...
Telchac is a small fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico, simple, rustic and tranquil. There are two small schools in the village, one for G1 to G6, and the other for G7 and G8. If this works, we will book the big house since it is walking distance to the village. It is a huge property, but the owner is renting is to us for much less than her regular price and it ends up being the same price as a two bedroom house along the coast. So it looks like we're back to the original plan after all !
Here in Toronto the weather is cooling down and school begins tomorrow. I pulled out some fall clothes for the kids and myself, and realised that I will have to select the summer clothes that we will bring to Mexico instead of putting it all in our usual seasonal storage bins. I really want to keep our luggage to a minimum though, it makes it much more simple to travel although we have to do laundry more often.
Hey, this means that I am starting to pack the suitcases! Slowly but surely!
Telchac is a small fishing village on the Gulf of Mexico, simple, rustic and tranquil. There are two small schools in the village, one for G1 to G6, and the other for G7 and G8. If this works, we will book the big house since it is walking distance to the village. It is a huge property, but the owner is renting is to us for much less than her regular price and it ends up being the same price as a two bedroom house along the coast. So it looks like we're back to the original plan after all !
Here in Toronto the weather is cooling down and school begins tomorrow. I pulled out some fall clothes for the kids and myself, and realised that I will have to select the summer clothes that we will bring to Mexico instead of putting it all in our usual seasonal storage bins. I really want to keep our luggage to a minimum though, it makes it much more simple to travel although we have to do laundry more often.
Hey, this means that I am starting to pack the suitcases! Slowly but surely!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Oh my... I am feeling the anxiety and we're leaving in what... 10 weeks? TEN WEEKS !!!!!
Considering all the things we still have to do (which I take all on my own shoulders of course because I do have a big tendency to be my own worst enemy...), ten weeks is not very much time. I will have to manage the preparation of the house for the sub-let by asking for some help for a change... and everything else will be much easier.
I found a basic First Aid course with many dates available, it's a two day training and it will give us peace of mind. I also began to research the flora and fauna more thoroughly, and it reminded me that there are many creatures to be aware in the areas we will be visiting. I did come across some of them during my many trips there, like the barracudas, sharks, scorpions, crocodiles, and some spiders so big that I had to call for help to remove it from my apartment wall... But we will be further South, actually South of the Belize border which is just across the bay of Chetumal, and while the monkeys and parrots and toucans may be a delight, the tarantulas and the many types of snakes are not so good. I am now looking for a couple of good books to help us identify what we see...
Tim and I are now considering not booking the big beach property in Telchac Puerto for the third month. It seems that we might not have friends visiting us, and it is such a big place that it's becoming difficult to justify the commitment of renting it for one month only for the four of us (it accommodates 16 guests...) We are leaving our options open, and we will book it last minute if need be - the kids really want to go back and it would be nice to be in known territory, but only if we have company.
I have made contact to teach in Telchac Puerto through a local charity coordinated by two american women. They collect money and sponsor children's education in Telchac Puerto and Progreso (Yucatan state). They provide school uniforms, vairous supplies, and for older students they also cover tuition fees. They are very interested by my offer and I am waiting for their decision. If I do teach in Telchac, we may have to stick around that part of Yucatan a bit longer but it leaves many options open for housing in the area - maybe in a beach house, maybe in Merida, or we might stay at the ranch longer.
And the school year is about to begin, pushing us back into a very scheduled life.
Considering all the things we still have to do (which I take all on my own shoulders of course because I do have a big tendency to be my own worst enemy...), ten weeks is not very much time. I will have to manage the preparation of the house for the sub-let by asking for some help for a change... and everything else will be much easier.
I found a basic First Aid course with many dates available, it's a two day training and it will give us peace of mind. I also began to research the flora and fauna more thoroughly, and it reminded me that there are many creatures to be aware in the areas we will be visiting. I did come across some of them during my many trips there, like the barracudas, sharks, scorpions, crocodiles, and some spiders so big that I had to call for help to remove it from my apartment wall... But we will be further South, actually South of the Belize border which is just across the bay of Chetumal, and while the monkeys and parrots and toucans may be a delight, the tarantulas and the many types of snakes are not so good. I am now looking for a couple of good books to help us identify what we see...
Tim and I are now considering not booking the big beach property in Telchac Puerto for the third month. It seems that we might not have friends visiting us, and it is such a big place that it's becoming difficult to justify the commitment of renting it for one month only for the four of us (it accommodates 16 guests...) We are leaving our options open, and we will book it last minute if need be - the kids really want to go back and it would be nice to be in known territory, but only if we have company.
I have made contact to teach in Telchac Puerto through a local charity coordinated by two american women. They collect money and sponsor children's education in Telchac Puerto and Progreso (Yucatan state). They provide school uniforms, vairous supplies, and for older students they also cover tuition fees. They are very interested by my offer and I am waiting for their decision. If I do teach in Telchac, we may have to stick around that part of Yucatan a bit longer but it leaves many options open for housing in the area - maybe in a beach house, maybe in Merida, or we might stay at the ranch longer.
And the school year is about to begin, pushing us back into a very scheduled life.
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